MacBook Pro 14/16 ain't so Pro without Ethernet dongle minimally ...

[JPack]

The lack of an ethernet port on the power brick means cheaper power bricks and more PCIe lanes available for the other generic ports to be used for people who don't give a hoot about included ethernet.

iMac has optional Ethernet on the power adapter. If you don’t need Ethernet, don’t buy the more expensive brick.

M1 Mac mini tests indicate there’s enough PCIe lanes to handle 10GbE even if all other ports are loaded. I don’t see why M1 Pro would have any trouble given the iMac Pro will likely use the same chip and have Ethernet.

 

[Gnattu]

I don’t see why M1 Pro would have any trouble

Mostly space and heat.

 

[throAU]

iMac has optional Ethernet on the power adapter. If you don’t need Ethernet, don’t buy the more expensive brick.

M1 Mac mini tests indicate there’s enough PCIe lanes to handle 10GbE even if all other ports are loaded. I don’t see why M1 Pro would have any trouble given the iMac Pro will likely use the same chip and have Ethernet.

See, the problem with that is that the power PORT on the machine will need to be wired up for PCIe to do that. I'd rather have those lanes on a more versatile port. I'd also rather have MagSafe on a portable thanks.

It maybe makes sense on an iMac which is normally desk bound but even there I think putting it in the power brick is stupid.

 

[ekwipt]

Beats the main issue for 10GBe have a look at all of the Thunderbolt dongles they have massive heat sinks or fans, same with the PCIe cards. It’s impossible to fit 10gbe in a laptop the thickness of a MacBook Pro

 

[JPack]

Mostly space and heat.

Beats the main issue for 10GBe have a look at all of the Thunderbolt dongles they have massive heat sinks or fans, same with the PCIe cards. It’s impossible to fit 10gbe in a laptop the thickness of a MacBook Pro

It's a single chip from Marvell, which uses 8-10W. This is well within what the MacBook Pro can handle. The "massive" heatsink you see is because those adapters are designed to be passively cooled.

 

[ekwipt]

It's a single chip from Marvell, which uses 8-10W. This is well within what the MacBook Pro can handle. The "massive" heatsink you see is because those adapters are designed to be passively cooled.

You’d want it to be passively cooled in the MacBook though otherwise you’re adding to the noise floor, more fans more noise and more heat to dissipate. Personally I’m fine with a dongle for 10gbe

 

[Gnattu]

It's a single chip from Marvell, which uses 8-10W. This is well within what the MacBook Pro can handle.

Isn't 8-10w a huge number for a laptop?

 

[JPack]

Isn't 8-10w a huge number for a laptop?

It is equal to ~10% of M1 Max package power under stress test benchmarks.

The 8-10W is a likely a gross overestimate of the actual power. It's based on various Thunderbolt 3 to 10GbE adapters. Those adapters have two chips: MAC controller + TB3. Apple wouldn't need a TB3 bridge chip since they connect 10GbE direct to PCIe.

Apple uses the Marvell AQC113 chip in the M1 Mac mini for 10GbE. We see this Marvell chip used in many server and workstation boards. And the heatsink is small - I'd say 5W or less just based on the size.

 

[mikeboss]

the chip on the MLB pictured above is an AQC113C. the one used in Mac mini M1 is AQC113.

https://www.marvell.com/content/dam/marvell/en/public-collateral/ethernet-adaptersandcontrollers/marvell-fastLinq-edge-aqc113-aqc113c-aqc113cs-aqc114cs-aqc115c-aqc116c-product-brief.pdf

 

[mario0]

Is there a USB-C adapter available which is using AQC113C chip? I would like to buy an Ethernet adapter for my MacBook Pro 14

 

[Zdigital2015]

What’s next? USB-A? A FireWire port? CD/DVD-RW? Everyone knows this never stops, this is why Apple never should have put SD-Card or HDMI back on the MacBook Pro. Next it’ll be removable storage and DRAM…or VGA, or some other goofy request.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

On 5Ghz Wifi networks, I get almost the same speeds as I would from being plugged in with ethernet, even when I'm a decent distance away from the router. If you're using ethernet, you're obviously going to be a short distance away from a router, switch, or mesh ap, so there's no real benefit for an ethernet port. If you have a garbage wifi router, then get a better one.

 

[t0rqx]

I really liked the iMac 2021 Ethernet built-in powerbrick solution. It was awesome if it was included with the new MBP 2021.

 

[rmgbenschop]

On 5Ghz Wifi networks, I get almost the same speeds as I would from being plugged in with ethernet, even when I'm a decent distance away from the router. If you're using ethernet, you're obviously going to be a short distance away from a router, switch, or mesh ap, so there's no real benefit for an ethernet port. If you have a garbage wifi router, then get a better one.

You achieve download and upload speeds of 1Gbits/s over Wi-Fi with a latency of <1ms? I do am curious with which devices you achieve this.

In a near perfect situation (no neighbouring SSID's, low noise <90dBm and line-of-sight with my AP) i have reached 800Mbits with local iPerf tests with a 3ms latency on an Aruba AP515 and several Wi-Fi 6 compatible laptops. I am proud of these numbers but I do see that Gigabit Ethernet is just better and more stable.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

You achieve download and upload speeds of 1Gbits/s over Wi-Fi with a latency of <1ms? I do am curious with which devices you achieve this.

In a near perfect situation (no neighbouring SSID's, low noise <90dBm and line-of-sight with my AP) i have reached 800Mbits with local iPerf tests with a 3ms latency on an Aruba AP515 and several Wi-Fi 6 compatible laptops. I am proud of these numbers but I do see that Gigabit Ethernet is just better and more stable.

Yes, I do get almost the same latency and speed on 5Ghz. The difference is superficial. Average of 3ms difference, and down speed is almost always close, same with upload speed. I live in a large Queens, NY apartment in a semi busy area, so there is plenty of network traffic around me. It really depends on the wifi router, I've dealt with 5Ghz and WiFi6 routers that are garbage. At the moment, I'm using an amplifi alien router and it's the best experience I've had.

 

[darngooddesign]

I really liked the iMac 2021 Ethernet built-in powerbrick solution. It was awesome if it was included with the new MBP 2021.

It works on the iMac because the magnets are very strong so you can't accidentally disconnect while copying a file.

 

[ekwipt]

Is there a USB-C adapter available which is using AQC113C chip? I would like to buy an Ethernet adapter for my MacBook Pro 14

Not yet, only PCIe cards, so you’ll have to use a Thunderbolt to PCIe expander

 

[Basic75]

On 5Ghz Wifi networks, I get almost the same speeds as I would from being plugged in with ethernet, even when I'm a decent distance away from the router. If you're using ethernet, you're obviously going to be a short distance away from a router, switch, or mesh ap, so there's no real benefit for an ethernet port. If you have a garbage wifi router, then get a better one.

That argument only holds if you have just one single device at a time using wifi, otherwise ethernet always wins.

 

[ekwipt]

I think the option would’ve been great, I don’t buy that excuse

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

That argument only holds if you have just one single device at a time using wifi, otherwise ethernet always wins.

I have a crap load of devices connected to 5Ghz network, and several connected to 5Ghz Wifi6. Yes ethernet always wins, but compared to being on a 5Ghz wifi network, not by much. I have no problem running a speedtest from several differ devices at the same time without speed noticeably being affected. 2Ghz is a completely differ story.

But like I mentioned before, it really depends on your router. There's so much technology that improves range, SNR, and etc. Just because a specific model router has a wifi protocol, doesn't mean the experience is going to be the same with other models with the same wifi protocol.

And with Wifi6e (6Ghz), the gap with close even more.

I personally understand why Apple didn't include an 1GBe port.

 

[profcutter]

I tend to agree. If it was possible to put in a built-in ethernet port, ideally with either 10G or a choice, I would have preferred that option. External ethernet dongles are always a pain, especially when troubleshooting connectivity.

 

[satcomer]

With Wi-6 and 6e are 98 percent of CAT 5 speeds!

 

[anshuvorty]

I have a crap load of devices connected to 5Ghz network, and several connected to 5Ghz Wifi6. Yes ethernet always wins, but compared to being on a 5Ghz wifi network, not by much. I have no problem running a speedtest from several differ devices at the same time without speed noticeably being affected. 2Ghz is a completely differ story.

But like I mentioned before, it really depends on your router. There's so much technology that improves range, SNR, and etc. Just because a specific model router has a wifi protocol, doesn't mean the experience is going to be the same with other models with the same wifi protocol.

And with Wifi6e (6Ghz), the gap with close even more.

I personally understand why Apple didn't include an 1GBe port.

Yeah, they must've done their market research for this redesign, and based on their internal roadmap + WiFi technology roadmap, they must've concluded that it just isn't worth it to get rid of a USB-C port for an ethernet port...

 

[Basic75]

With Wi-6 and 6e are 98 percent of CAT 5 speeds!

For a single half-duplex stream. Try doing more things simultaneously, i.e. with more than just one device moving data in one direction.

 

[Basic75]

I have no problem running a speedtest from several differ devices at the same time without speed noticeably being affected.

What kind of a speedtest is that and what results do you get? With a switched Ethernet and multiple devices you can get total throughput way beyond what a single link can do in one direction, with Wifi that's simply impossible.